Strange Happenings at Noon
by PoisonousWhiteRose
Summary: Set in the year 1899, Dimitri is the sheriff of a town. He protects the town, tries not to fall in love with his proprietor's daughter, and discovers that this town is not like other ones. Strange things start happening at noon the day after his arrival. He, along with a meddling group of well-meaning teens, set out to find exactly what is causing these events. rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

The wind howled, blowing sand into doorways, into eyes and everywhere else the townspeople did not want it. They heard the _screech_ of the train and looked at each other. The clock tower tolled noon.

'The train never stops hear,' they thought, 'Here in our little town in the middle of nowhere.'

The elderly couldn't stop staring at the lone passenger's clothes, evident when he, for gender was as evident as clothes, clambered off the train and looked around. The women couldn't stop staring either it seemed. They were captivated by the handsome stranger. He had dark brown eyes, so dark they were nearly black, that the women could see even from a distance. His shoulder-length dark hair and strong chiseled jaw and the fact that he was new made everyone look and look and look.

'He seems disappointed' thought the townspeople.

The passenger started down the steps from the top of the platform but stopped shot when the doors to the town hall banged open. Out stepped a man who almost rivaled the looks of the passenger. He had blue eyes, the likes of which only his family had, midnight black hair and the look on his face told the townspeople that something was about to happen. Behind the young man trailed two women and three more men. The women were complete contrasts, one was tall with very pale skin, fair waist length hair, so blonde it looked almost white and the brightest green eyes, her body or what could be seen from it underneath the dress was willowy and not as "developed", you might say, or curvy as the other one's. The other woman, on the other hand, had dark brown waist length hair, dark brown eyes and a body that, even with the dress on, was curvy in all the right places. She was short but her presence overruled any comments about her height. The women were wearing matching dresses, both blood red with frill at the end of cap sleeves and the bodice with a heart-shaped neckline. Justified in his thinking, the passenger thought the short one looked better in the dress. Behind the women stepped a man who immediately, simultaneously made all the women in the town swoon and glare at the shorter woman for he had put his arm around her waist. The shorter woman immediately stepped out of the embrace and turned her glare towards the man. The passenger had been watching the "event" unfold, his blood boiling for a reason he could not explain when the second man put his arm around the shorter woman and turned to look at the man when she did. The man was tall with fair skin much like the first woman, blond hair, and green eyes much like the first woman also.

'Mmm, maybe they are related.' The passenger thought.

The man looked wounded, put his hand on his chest and spoke, though the passenger could not hear what he said. The shorter woman rolled her eyes at the man and turned around. The group started forward toward the train platform. The passenger stepped toward the ground and stood there until the group had reached him. As they were drawing nearer, the passenger saw that he had overestimated their ages. He took them for mid- twenties but they looked to be, in fact, seven and ten years old. All except the second man, he looked to be twenty and one years old. Which only angered the passenger more for he had no business grabbing at a woman, much less on five years younger. The group stopped in front of the passenger and the first man began talking. At least the passenger assumed he was speaking. The passenger was too mesmerized by the second woman. He saw that she was even more beautiful closer. He could see her eyes and they were sparking, like they had a fire about ready to ignite underneath them, not like the women back in his country. They were all rule followers and this one looked like a rule breaker. He mentally shook himself.

'That young woman is seven years younger than you. Stop.' Thought the passenger.

The passenger finally tuned into the conversation to find the first man patiently waiting for him to answer a question he did not hear. The passenger cleared his throat and asked the first man to repeat what he had said.

The first man smirked and repeated, "I'm Christian. I had asked where you were from but from your accent I am going to guess Eastern Europe?"

"Russia to be exact." The passenger stated in his deep voice.

"Mmm, what's your name and why are you here?" asked Christian.

"I am Dimitri Belikov and I am looking for work so that I can send money back to my family." Stated the passenger.

"Alright, Dimitri. Let's see if we can find you work and a place to stay." Announced Christian.

"He can stay at my house. There's plenty of room." Exclaimed the shorter woman.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Rosie? You know how your parents are," countered Christian.

"I'll handle my parents, Pyro. And how many times have I said not to call me that." Said not-Rosie.

"But Rose what about the ball your parents are going to throw. They are very stressed right now, are you sure you should be trying to convince them of something right now?" asked the taller woman.

"Yes, Lissa. I'm sure" Rose stated with the utmost confidence.

"I would not want to intrude ma'am." Dimitri said softly looking intently at Rose. Rose stared back and said just as softly "You wouldn't be intruding, my dear sir." A throat cleared and they broke their stare. The girl named Lissa and Christian looked like they were trying to hold in their laughter. Rose stared at them and if looks had been able to kill, Lissa and Christian would have been six feet under.

The man who cleared his throat stuck his hand out for Dimitri to shake and exclaimed, rather rudely, "I'm Adrian".

Dimitri shook his hand; HARD, and stated "It's nice to meet you."

The other two men who had stepped out introduced themselves as Mason and Eddie. Mason had reddish blond hair and blue eyes that when looking at Rose glazed over in awe. Eddie had a sandy brown mop on top of his head and hazel eyes that noticed everything. Eddie looked at Rose with amusement instead of longing and awe like Adrian and Mason respectively. Dimitri didn't like them but decided to keep quiet. Rose and Christian were talking about trying to convince her parents and Adrian was starting to pull out a cigarette. Dimitri shook his head. Mason and Eddie were talking about how Eddie's date went last night with one Jill Dragomir and Lissa was inching closer to him.  
"What do you do?" asked Lissa suddenly, stopping everyone's conversation in the middle of a sentence. Christian looked over and piped up "Yes what do you do? So we know if we have a job available."

"Well back in Russia, I was the –what do Americans call it? - sheriff of my town."

"You're in luck," Eddie exclaimed, "we just got an opening for the sheriff."

"Why? What happened to him?"  
Adrian sneered at Dimitri. "He tried to touch Rose." Everyone looked at him, astonished at his vehemence, confused as to why he was looking at Dimitri threateningly.

But Dimitri knew and he understood. Adrian had noticed that Dimitri was somehow inexplicably attracted to Rose. Adrian wanted to make sure Dimitri understood. Make Rose do something she doesn't want to and you'll disappear.  
"Relax. That won't be a problem with me." Dimitri said to everyone but only looked at Adrian. Mason didn't seem like a big enough threat to Dimitri. His crush seemed like just that, a crush. Adrian seemed like he would do anything to make sure that Dimitri wouldn't touch Rose. Under any circumstances.

"Well good. I'm glad I won't have to worry about you." Rose said rather sarcastically. Lissa looked at Rose in surprise and Adrian behind her lifted his hands in exasperation. Christian just smirked and looked on. Eddie smiled a little and proposed to go back in and let Dimitri settle in and meet everyone else. So they started walking back to the town hall letting the town residents wonder what was going to happen. Everyone retreated to their homes for lunch forgetting for the moment that strange things were about to occur.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow thank you for all the reviews and favorites and follows. 169 views but only a few reviews can we change that? Please! Um Guest, I'm not sure what you meant in your review if you could review again and explain that would be great. By the way Adrian is four years older not five sorry. Suck at math. And it's an AU**.

Once inside the town hall, they were bombarded by servants, and three other girls. One was short, even shorter than Rose with blond hair arranged in ringlets and blue eyes. Another could have been Lissa's sister. She had pale skin mush like Adrian, Lissa, and Christian, blonde hair and green eyes. Her face structure and the way she carried herself is what made Dimitri think they were sisters. The last had shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes that had a twinkle in them that Dimitri knew meant knowledge, both the possession of and the desire to obtain.

The one that resembled a doll introduced herself as Mia gave Dimitri a brisk nod and started conversing animatedly with Lissa and Rose. The one that, Dimitri thought, was Lissa's sister looked at Dimitri, blushed and stuttered out "I'm Jillian but everyone calls me Jill kind of like how Lissa's actual name is Vasilissa but everyone calls her Lissa –"

Adrian smirked and interrupted Jill. "It's okay Jailbait. No need to start rambling." Everyone laughed and Jill blushed even harder. The last one shook her head at Adrian, turned toward Dimitri and stuck out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Sydney Sage. And you are."

"Dimitri Belikov ma'am." Dimitri answered briskly.

"Oh. Russian. Have you seen other parts of the world?"

"Yes I have. I have gone to Italy."

"How beautiful is it? What does the Parthenon look like? How beautiful is St. Peter's Basilica? How much is the Leaning Tower of Pisa leaning?" Sydney questioned him without pause for an answer.

Adrian smiled indulgently at Sydney and said, "Don't worry Sage. I'll take one day."

Sydney rolled her eyes and started arguing with Adrian, allowing Dimitri to take in his surroundings.

The group stood at the front of an extremely long hallway with two giant doors at the end of it. To his left was a grand sitting room with a fireplace, three chairs, and two couches. The sitting room was very well decorated, it's color scheme being neutral colors. The walls were a light brown, the couches sky blue, the chairs a dark green that reminded Dimitri of a bush near his house in Russia that he enjoyed hiding in.

To his right was a sweeping staircase so tall he could not see past the first landing. Just then the two giant doors at the end of the hallway slammed open. Out stepped a man dressed as though he was in a circus with a scarf, a suit of varying shades of red and a hat. The woman that accompanied him had a look of murder on her face and wore a dress much like Lissa's and Rose's. Actually, Dimitri noticed, Mia, Jill, and Sydney were all wearing dresses like Rose and Lissa. His companions froze for a second when they caught sight of the woman, then started trying to run up the stairs.

As Rose ran past Dimitri, she caught hold of his hand and tried to drag him up the stairs with her.

"ROSEMARIE HATHAWAY MAZUR!" the woman shouted and Rose cringed.

She turned around and said deceptively innocently, "Yes Mother?"

Rose's mother immediately started chastising her for going outside in a new dress. "And the others. You're not safe up there. Come down now." Dimitri hadn't noticed that Rose had managed to drag him up three steps before her mother reached them. He now looked up and noticed the group on the first landing, which he could now see past. Or well a bit further past, not much.

Lissa grimaced but trudged down the stairs dragging Christian who was dragging Jill who was dragging Eddie who was dragging Mason who was dragging Mia who was dragging Sydney who was dragging Adrian. Rose's mother gave them all stern looks and began inquiring as to why everyone had gone outside in their new clothes. Sydney piped up and stated that only the men and Rose and Lissa had gone outside not everyone.

"Thank you Sydney but that still doesn't tell me _why_ you went outside."

"Oh. Well. Mother", Rose said excitedly waving Dimitri forward for he had moved around behind Rose's mother. "We heard the train stop and wondered why. So went to investigate and apparently they were dropping someone off. This is Dimitri Belikov Mother. He needs a job and housing and I told him he could stay here. Christian was going to talk to Daddy to see if we can make him the sheriff. Isn't that extraordinary?" Rose said all of that in one breath.

"Easy there, Rosie. You're starting to sound like Jailbait." Christian snickered. Rose's mother rolled her eyes and ignored the bickering that had started between Rose and Christian. She turned toward Dimitri and stuck out her hand.

"I apologize for my daughter and her friends. I'm Janine Hathaway." She said.

"Mazur." The circus man interceded. Janine turned toward him and inquired "what?"

The man said simply "Janine Hathaway Mazur."

"You know that's an argument that you are going to lose, Old man." Rose laughed.

"We'll see, little girl." The man stuck his hand out as well and introduced himself as Abe Mazur. Then Abe and Janine turned suddenly toward Rose and exclaimed at the same time: "What do you mean you told him he could stay here?"

"Well he can't very well stay at the inn."

"And why ever not?" asked Abe.

"Because the innkeeper left a month ago. Don't you remember?" Rose answered giving her parents a meaningful glare.

"Oh. That's right. Very well. Dimitri you can stay in the empty room across from Rose." Janine decided after several moments of awkward silence. Adrian immediately objected. Janine shushed him, gave everyone stern glares and told them all to report back to the tailor.

"Except for you Rose. You are to show Dimitri his rooms. He is your guest. After that report back to the tailor."

"Yes, Mother." Rose said demurely but when she turned toward Dimitri her eyes twinkled with a mischievous light. She grabbed Dimitri's hand again and as she pulled him up the stairs Dimitri tried not to notice how soft her hand felt and how right it felt in his hand.

Rose was pointing things out as they went up and he tried to listen.

"The first floor contains the sitting room, the kitchen, the parlor, and my father's study. The second floor has the servant's rooms and the tailor's room. The third floor is where Christian and his Aunt Tasha, Lissa and Jill, Mia, Sydney and Adrian live. Mason and Eddie live with their families. Mia's parents work here but she doesn't really live with them. My parents' room is on that floor as well." Rose described. Dimitri noticed that the entire house seemed to follow the same color scheme as the sitting room but it didn't seem overdone.

He realized that she had yet to say where her room, and consequently his, was and they were nearly to the end of the stairs.

"And your room?" questioned Dimitri.

"Our rooms are at the top. With the best views." Rose exclaimed squeezing his hand. He squeezed back reflexively. When they reached the top of the stairs they encountered a closed door. Rose put her hand on the doorknob, turned back, smiled at him and opened the door.

Immediately light hit Dimitri. There was a great big circular window at the end of a very short hallway. There were only two doors on this floor. The walls were sky blue paired with the dark wood floor and the light streaming through the window, one could imagine they were flying but that's ridiculous of course. Humans don't fly.

The walls underneath the window were commanded by a chair in the middle of gigantic bookshelves teeming with books. Dimitri gasped at the sight and Rose gave a shy laugh. "I know. I don't look like I like to read but I do. I adore it. The ability to leave the country without ever leaving my room. The ability to fall in love without any problems. The fact that you could get completely lost in those worlds…Sorry I was rambling." Rose sighed and ducked her head as she blushed.

Dimitri decided right then and there that Rose blushing was his favorite sight in the world. Dimitri assured her that it was alright. "Besides I like to read as well."

Rose smiled at him and he smiled back. "What did you mean though when you said 'best view'?" Dimitri asked.

"You're going to have to wait for that. Come on." Rose said, pulling him toward the door on the left. "This is your room."

She opened the door and led him in. Dimitri looked around. It was a nice room. It had a canopy bed with two chairs gathered around a table in the middle. There was a closet on one side and a changing screen on the other. The door shut behind him with a bang Dimitri whirled around and saw that Rose was leaning against it.

"Soooo Dimitri, what brings you here?"

"I told all outside."

"Right okay. So tell me about your family."

"Well we live right on the outskirts. My mom Olena is amazing. She does everything for everyone and never expects a thank you. My grandmother Yeva is as amazing but stranger and not as warm as my mother. But she is still the only one I can really talk to and get advice. I have three sisters: Sonya, Karolina, and Viktoria. Sonya and Karolina are both pregnant but Sonya's was unplanned. Karolina has one other child. A son. Paul, he is the sweetest thing ever. Viktoria is a hotheaded, rebellious teenager. She is only six and ten years old but she already has more than half of the boys wrapped around her little finger. Karolina is set to marry Paul's father and Sonya doesn't know yet if she is going to get married or not.. Sonya and Karolina are both older than me and never let me forget it. When I left Karo was about to give birth, Sonya was not far behind and Vika had a date."

"what about your father?" Rose inquired.

Dimitri sighed. "My father left after I beat him up when I was three and ten years old. He was beating my mother."

"Wow. You really are a god." Rose said to herself.

"What was that?" Dimitri questioned.

"I said: 'Wow'", Rose sighed, "You really love them."

"Yes", Dimitri chuckled, "I really do. Tell me about you."

At this point they were sitting in the chairs in the middle of the room and Rose looked around. She sighed forlornly. "There's not much to tell, I'm afraid. My parents only ever had one child. Lissa's parents and brother died in carriage accident when we were only ten and two. She has stayed with us ever since. Christian's parents left to travel the world when he was very young and left him with his Aunt Tasha.

They never came back.

Tasha had a slight run-in with a rabid dog when Christian was about ten and two protecting him and has a scar on the right side of her face because of it but the scar only enhances her beauty. Adrian stays with us every once in a while. Adrian and Lissa are cousins. Jill is Lissa's sister and I know you are wondering why we all call her Jailbait. Well around here there is a law that a lady under twenty cannot marry and a girl under ten and six cannot be courted. Jill is ten and five. She admitted to having a crush on Eddie and Father granted permission for Eddie and Jill to go out together.

Mason has been with us for as long as I can remember. I like him well enough and I am aware of his feelings towards me but he also knows that I view him as my brother, nothing else. Adrian is a big flirt and nothing else." Rose finally took a breath and stared at Dimitri.

And he back. Several moments passed in silence between the two. Finally she mentally shook herself and started to get up. "I must be taking my leave dear sir. I must go and get ready for dinner. You can use the washcloth and basin behind the changing screen, if you need more water or fresh water just ring this bell." She said, extending her hand to show him a little bell.

"But Roza didn't your mother tell you to report back to the tailor after showing me around?" Dimitri inquired.

"Well yes but it's much too late for the tailor to still be here." They looked out the window together and saw the sun kissing the horizon.

Dimitri exclaimed, "I am sorry Roza. I have kept you here. Let me explain it to your mother. I am sure she will understand."

Rose put a hand on Dimitri's arm and assured that it would be alright. He didn't have to do such a thing. Dimitri insisted and Rose caved. They said their goodbyes and Dimitri closed the door behind her. Rose crossed the hallway, went into her room and leaned against the closed door. She stared in amazement at her hand. She felt like it was tingling. Like she had stuck it into a fire and yanked it back right before it could burn her. She closed her eyes, sighed, smiled, and wondered what was happening across the hall.

While across the hall much the same was happening, with one change. Rose didn't know what the tingling in her hand meant but Dimitri knew what the tingling in his arm meant. Karo had talked about it happening with Paul's father. Dimitri realized that he had to be careful or what Adrian had warned him about would indeed happen.

But not without Rose's consent.

Of that he would make sure of.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for the reviews! I am so so so sorry for not updating earlier but time got away from me and then I was blocked on this chapter. The good news is I have already started on chapter four! ENJOY!

##########

The residents of the top floor were the last to go to dinner but they did not know it. Rose opened her door at the same time Dimitri did, like she planned. What she did not plan was the expression on his face. He wore a mask of resignation and distance that made her heart thump painfully. Her own expression fell from what Adrian called her man-eater smile to a frown with a few little lines between her eyebrows.

Dimitri couldn't help the little flash of pain that ran through his heart as he looked at her expression change. Rose saw the flash of pain pass through his eyes. She wondered what it meant. Rose shook herself and bid Dimitri hello.

"Are you hungry?" she questioned him. Dimitri assured her that he was famished. "Well in that case, we best be going to dinner." Rose smiled and Dimitri responded in kind. 'He has never smiled. Not fully. Not once.' Rose thought, 'How peculiar. I wonder how bad his teeth are.'

They descended the stairs side by side and Rose found her shoulder brushing his bicep. She felt the tingling again but this time it went throughout her entire arm. She still did not understand it but decided she very much liked the feeling.

Dimitri looked down at her and opened his mouth to say something, blinked, closed his mouth and faced forward again. Dimitri did this again twice more. On the third Rose exclaimed "What Dimitri?! Spit it out!"

"I-Um-Why did you call Christian 'Pyro'?" Dimitri stammered.

"Oh. Well, when he was about three and ten we, Lissa, Christian, and I, decided to have a bonfire in the middle of the town square. So as Lissa and I watched, Christian gathered wood and struck a match and lit the wood. But, and to this day we still don't exactly know what caused it, instead of the small bonfire we were expecting, this massive inferno roared in the middle of town. Of course Mother and Father were furious but I smoothed it over so that Christian didn't get into _too_ much trouble. Ever since that day I've called him Pyro."

Rose could barely get the story out, she was laughing so hard! Dimitri was chuckling too. Rose looked at Dimitri and decided that she wanted to see his laughing face everyday of her life. The she startled because she was never one to have those types of thoughts. The types to involve long-term relationships and life-long commitments.

Then she rationalized that it was just the fact that he was new. The fact that she didn't know him that made her feel that way when deep inside her soul, the soul that seems bared to Dimitri now as he looked in her eyes, she knew that there was a word for what she felt but she didn't want to admit it. Not yet. She felt as though her soul was both being completed and being shattered into a tiny million pieces. She felt that her soul was on fire but at the same time was being healed.

They were now paused on the first landing and could hear the clanging of silverware on dishes as the servants placed them on the table, the hum of human conversation and explosions of laughter as someone, most likely Mason, told a joke.

They were alone there in the seclusion of darkness. Rose could feel Dimitri's body heat, could hear his breathing get faster, could practically see Dimitri's hand reach out and very nearly touch her face. She felt her own breathing accelerate in response.

At the last moment though, he touched not her face, as she so desperately wanted, but her hair.

"I like your hair down." Dimitri breathed

"Really?" Rose sighed in return.

He snatched his hand away just as she was leaning closer to his hand. He cleared his throat, faced forward and said in a voice that had grown huskier. "We should go to dinner. They are probably waiting for us."

Rose nodded reluctantly and they started going down the remaining stairs. She looked at Dimitri, wanting to say something, wanting an explanation for what had just happened. Instead all she got was a half-smile with no emotion behind it and eyes that, just moments ago burned with passion and desire, but now were vaults with the door locked tight.

She sighed and accepted reluctantly that Dimitri was not going to talk about what had just transpired between them. 'At least not now,' she smirked, a plan already forming in her head. Dimitri went down the last flight of stairs, Rose trailing behind him.

He looked both ways and assumed the grand doors led to the dining room. Dimitri turned toward Rose, pointed to the doors and asked "Dining room?" in a clipped, clearly agitated tone. Rose nodded and led the way into the dining room.

A long, long table, big enough to seat one hundred and fifty people comfortably with some room left over, dominated the dining room. Doors on the side must have led to the kitchen where pots and pans clanking and crashing together could be heard. There were portraits of the family, mountains, forests and lakes hung tastefully on the walls. At the end of the room were giant floor to ceiling windows that let the people occupying the room to gaze out at the sunset, so beautiful and picturesque that it might have been a portrait in and of itself if not for the fact that the sun moved.

The group of people who had met Dimitri earlier along with several others occupied the table. The woman that Dimitri noticed had piercing blue eyes, much like Christian, long straight black hair and a scar marring the right side of her face. There were two other women both of whom had two small children around them. The women had brown eyes, short stocky build, pale skin and long hair.

That was where the similarities ended. One woman had reddish-blond hair and was talking to Mason, even though Mason was staring in awe at Rose as she walked in, while still staring at Dimitri trying to look menacing. He was not achieving it. The other woman looked uneasy, sitting rigidly while trying to have a conversation with the other adults.

There was also a man, his face tanned from the sun and body sculpted by years hard work. Dimitri's eyes stayed for a millisecond longer on the woman with the scarred face than on anyone else. An insignificant amount. To anyone but Rose. She noticed the _look_ between Tasha and Dimitri. She mentally shook her head and told herself that she was overreacting. She introduced everyone else to Dimitri.

Eddie's mother, Natalie, just stiffly nodded and Rose sighed as she thought back as to why Natalie was like that. Mason's mother, Anastasia, smiled warmly at Dimitri and Rose felt herself stiffen. Anastasia's third husband had died only six months ago and she was always one to move on quickly. It didn't help that there was no love lost between them. He had lusted after her since before her first husband, the only one she really loved, but he never got the chance to court her properly because business always held him back. Finally, one year and six months ago he courted, married and, if the rumors are to be believed; ravaged her so harshly he left bruises. After their wedding night they never lay together again and he died of old age, asleep in his own bed. Nobody missed him. Anastasia said hello and Dimitri turned toward Christian's aunt.

"Hello. I am Tasha." She said never breaking eye contact, extending out her hand. Dimitri took her hand, but instead of shaking it like he had with Janine he kissed it, saying "Hello. I am Dimitri."

Tasha stared for a while longer at Dimitri; then seemed to shake herself and look away. Rose fumed. She didn't like the fact that Dimitri had kissed Tasha's hand.

The only consolation was that he had not looked her in the eyes, unlike all the other men. But Tasha had never reacted the way she had with any of the other men that had courted her.

Rose looked pleadingly at her father. Abe Mazur had always had a canny ability to guess his only daughter's intentions; plans, going so far as to sometimes guess her feelings. Now was one of those times. Rose's father took one look at her, looked toward Dimitri, who was now introducing himself to Mia's father: Ricky, and looked back at Rose with one eyebrow raised and his head tilted as though asking a silent question.

Rose gave a nearly imperceptible nod and Abe rose up from his seat. "Now that my daughter and _her_ guest have arrived, we can begin to eat." He announced with special emphasis on the word "her" it seemed. Rose took a seat next to Lissa and across from Mia. Dimitri took the seat on her other side which was also flanked by Mia's dad and was far away from Tasha, noticed Rose. He immediately struck up a conversation with Ricky.

The kitchen helpers came into the dining room arms laden with food. They placed it in the middle of the table, lifted the lids and backed away silently. The food was momentarily obscured by the steam that was released upon the platters' opening. When the steam cleared the people seated around the table could see succulent meat, juicy with sauces; potatoes steamed to perfection with pats of butter already melting on top. There was wine being served to everybody over five and ten and water to everyone under. The saltshakers were placed on the table and Abe rose up from his chair and exclaimed "Enjoy!"

Suddenly the dining room, which had been silent, excluding the noise coming from the kitchen, moments ago, exploded in a cacophony of sounds: the children yelling, the girls gossiping, the men talking business and the silverware crashing and scraping on the china.

Everyone was in their own social circles not ten seconds after dinner started. Rose looked up from talking about the latest town gossip with Lissa, Jill and Mia and locked eyes with Dimitri. Before he had been talking animatedly with Ricky and seemed to be enjoying himself, which pleased Rose to no end, but now he looked quite forlorn and had been looking down at the table, giving his food a level of concentration it did not require. She could sense he was becoming sadder with each passing moment spent with the lifelong friends surrounding him.

She spoke up so that everyone could hear her and as soon as she did the level of sounds bouncing off the walls lowered itself down to near extinction. "Tell us about your homeland, Dimitri." Dimitri looked at her as if to say 'I already told you that. What are you up?' Rose's eyes widened in astonishment. No one could ever guess that she was up to something so quickly, unless she was making a face. Wait, was she? She looked around but everyone was concentrating on Dimitri, who was squirming under all that attention.

Rose winced as he looked at her and frowned. She forgot he didn't like attention, least of all from strangers. He soon forgot about his feelings, though, as Lissa went on to ask about his family and town and holidays they celebrated and how Paul wanted to be just like him. Rose smiled at how content he sounded.

She suddenly felt someone's eyes on her. She looked away from Dimitri talking about how Viktoria once fed Paul spices and turned toward Tasha. Tasha was glaring at Rose that would make one think Rose was making Tasha personally suffer. Once Tasha caught Rose's eyes, she glared as if to kill Rose.

Rose blinked in astonishment and looked around to see if anyone else had seen what had transcended. When she did so, her eyes got trapped in Dimitri's. He had been looking at her while telling his story and had seen Rose look astonished. He looked at her and glanced to where her line of sight had been. Dimitri saw Tasha's murderous glare quickly leave her face, narrowed his eyes and looked back at Rose.

He gave her a look that communicated that they would talk later and kept talking animatedly, maybe more so than before. The entire "conversation" if one could indeed call it that took less than a minute, but for Rose it seemed to take more than an hour.

Lissa turned toward her to comment on Dimitri's story and stopped short at Rose's look of bewilderment. Lissa leaned in close and asked, "What's wrong?" in a voice filled to the brim with concern for her that Rose shook off her daze and shook her head in answer to Lissa's question. Lissa knew better than to insist. Instead, she took her friend's hand, looked Rose in the eyes, and simply said: "Later". Rose nodded.

Dinner passed in peace, with the exception of the slight altercation involving only four of the guests. Stories were exchanged, inquires were made, laughter was heard echoing through the house. Friendships, no matter how unlikely they were, were forged between the guests at the dinner table that night and the new resident of Hastings.

The town was tucking in for the night, lights going off all around the town center. Yet the lights of the town hall stayed on. The guests laughed, and were generally rambunctious. The servants rolled their eyes, approached Abe and announced that they were going to tuck in for the night. Abe smiled, somewhat drunk, and announced quite loudly, "A round of applause to the chef and all those who helped make the most delicious meal I've had in weeks!"

Everyone applauded to the servants and the servants blushed, bowed, bid everyone good night and left. Not long after that Eddie and Mason bid good night to the host family and the guests gathered around them and went their separate ways with their families.

But not before Mason personally said goodbye to Rose via a kiss on the cheek making Rose blush and Dimitri clench his fists and hide them under the table so no one could see them.

Soon after Mason left, Lissa and Christian also departed after a lengthy goodbye between Rose and Lissa in which Lissa implored that Rose accompany her to bed to talk about dinner but Rose said, no, rather emphatically. Consequently, Tasha also left. Not without looking Dimitri in the eyes, subjecting him to the full force of her eyes. But Dimitri simply said good night to her the way he had to everyone.

Mia and her father also left as well leaving only Dimitri, Rose, Janine, and Abe to battle the awkwardness that soon descended upon them like a plague.

Janine asked, "So, Rose, what did the tailor say about your dress?" in a tone that led one to believe that she already knew what the tailor said.

"Oh. Um…" Rose stammered. She turned toward Dimitri, panic in her eyes.

Dimitri didn't like Rose to be worried or panicked or anything that could harm her, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

So he turned toward Janine and stated with the utmost confidence in a tone that made everyone trust and listen to him within seconds: "I'm afraid that was my fault Mrs. Hathaway. I started talking to Rose and time got away from me."

Janine blinked and said in a surprised voice "Oh. Well. Alright."

Rose suddenly rose up from her chair, said in a rather hurried and breathless voice "Thank you, Mother, Father for the wonderful meal. I shall see you tomorrow. Good night.", and kissed them both on the cheek leaving them bewildered and rushing to say good night back.

As Rose touched the first step, the grandfather clock in the hallway leading to the dining room struck the hour. It tolled twelve times advising the residents of the town house in its wise way that it was time for them to bid goodnight.

Dimitri said good night immediately after the twelfth gong leaving the Master and Mistress of the house wandering when would be the next time they would be able to talk to their daughter about her infatuation with the stranger.

And his with her.

####

Dimitri reached the top pf the stairs and looked up from where he was deep in thought. He saw Rose standing there at the threshold of her door looking up at the window that they had both admired earlier. He tried to stealthily enter his room, but as he was turning the doorknob she spoke up.

"Thank you", she whispered so softly that he was unsure that he heard it. Rose turned toward him, looked Dimitri straight in the eye and said "Thank you. For listening to me."

"No Roza, thank you for suffering through my life's story." Dimitri responded fondly.

She chuckled and stated, "It's not suffering if it's you" like it was an accepted fact of life. Rose got closer and closer until she was mere inches away from Dimitri. Dimitri caught his breath as she leaned even closer. "I'm sorry for making _you _suffer through dinner Dimitri." She said as serious as death, then leaned away and smiled. "Besides Comrade we're even now. You made me "suffer" through your life's story and I made you suffer through dinner." She moved away and chuckled.

Dimitri stayed frozen on the threshold as Rose moved to her door and turned back to Dimitri. She smiled and whispered, "Good night Dimitri."

Dimitri suddenly moved, caught hold of her hand and looked straight into her eyes. Rose was caught in the gravitational pull of his eyes until he bent to her hand and kissed it. Exactly like Tasha except that Dimitri didn't stop looking into her eyes and he kissed Rose's hand.

He whispered against her skin. "Good night, moya lyubov'."

And he disappeared into his room.

Rose stood alone, staring at the door to Dimitri's room, her hands twitching with the suppressed need to grab the doorknob, turn it and go where she really wanted to og.

Instead, Rose turned once again toward her room, got ready for bed and dreamed that night of cowboys with Russian accents brandishing ropes of impossible lengths coming to save her.

From what she never saw.

**###**

**Moya lyubov' means my love.**

**Please Review. Pretty pretty please with Dimitri/ Adrian on top. **

**(hopefully just Dimitri although Adrian has his good things too)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry. But life was hectic this past year. I graduated high school, moved states, dealt with personal issues, and had my aunt move into our tiny, tiny house. Besides that the words just weren't speaking to me. I know, that's pathetic but that's my strongest excuse. The characters were nonexistent in my head. I have a Wattpad story that also suffered. I started writing it to maybe get the words flowing again and it turned out to make it worse. But I swear this story will go on. I just don't want to give any of you a promise I probably won't keep. Please forgive me and hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter. **

Back in his room Dimitri began questioning his sanity.

The fact that he was so quick to defend her was alarming but what had just transcended in the hallway was insane to say the least. 'And by God! Calling her that!' Dimitri's only reassurance was that she neither knew Russian nor had she registered the words.

Dimitri shook his head as if to dispel the thoughts of how lovely Rose had looked during dinner, laughing as if she had not a care in the world. He readied himself for bed: washing and changing his dinner outfit for only pajama pants, but could not sleep quite yet.

He tossed back the sheets of the most luxurious bed he had ever slept in and started pacing. The problem with pacing, however, is that while his feet were entertained, his mind was not. Dimitri kept seeing the visions of Rose walking up to him in the morning, the light of the sun as it passed the window pane in his room and graced her face with the external light it needed to shine.

Because there truly was an internal light as well and it was may haps brighter than the feeble and fleeting light of the sun. The shine of the moon in the hallway was perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen her. She looked so vulnerable there in the hallway surrounded by books-'That's it!' Dimitri reasoned.

He could stop thinking about Rose by burying himself in books. Then he would be able to sleep. He crossed to the door and wrenched it open so hard he was surprised the door hadn't come off its hinges. He passed over the threshold and went up to the books. He realized that he could not see the titles of the books. So Dimitri ran back inside to his room, lit a candle and hurried back to the books. He hadn't realized how close the books were to Roza's door and Dimitri was tempted to check on her. 'For what?,' He thought, 'There is nothing wrong with her and besides it is not only un proper but also not your job!' He chastised himself. He shook off the thoughts and turned back to the books. He passed the candle close enough to the spines of the books that he could read them, far enough away that the books wouldn't catch on fire. He came across one that sounded and looked interesting and turned back to go to his room. Dimitri was crossing the threshold, trying to balance the book and candle at the same time already reading the book when a noise that chilled him to the bone, despite the heat of the night.

Coming from Rose's bedroom, a scream like nothing he had ever heard before. A blood-curdling scream.

'It sounds as though someone were murdering Rose.' As soon as the thought ran through his head, he rushed to Rose's bedroom door, eyes widening in terror. He reached the door, yanked it open and was halfway inside before the book he had been holding thumped to the ground and the candle sputtered out. Not that Dimitri noticed.

Dimitri also did not take in his surroundings: the dark wood paneled walls, the books covering all the wall space that would have been free had Rose been a normal girl, the vanity, the half-open armoire where clothes were spilling out. He only noticed pillows; more than he thought necessary, and the princess bed with the red and black curtains, red and black sheets and blankets, and Rose in the middle of the enormous bed.

He didn't hesitate, though he should've. Any gentleman would have. 'Unless a woman like Rose is thrashing and screaming.' The wayward thought was only one of two that were overtaking his brain, the other being: 'Must save Roza', from what he was unsure of but she was hurting and he would not allow that. He finally made it to the bed. He wondered exactly how big the bedroom truly was. His sense of direction was somewhat skewed, being completely focused on Rose. He went to shake her shoulder, the shoulder that shouldn't be bared to him under any circumstances, that should be better hidden under a thick flannel robe instead of a flimsy, nearly transparent nightgown. But she thrashed and turned away form him before he could. Dimitri was practically on the bed himself, though he wasn't deliberately conscious of this fact. Rose turned toward him again and he caught her shoulders to hold her down. All the while Rose was screaming and crying. The sight of tear tracks down her cheeks almost did him in. He hated it when any woman cried for any reason, but it seemed more so when Rose was involved. He didn't quite understand the hold that she had on him so soon after them meeting merely a day.

The thought stopped him short for one second. It had only been 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86400 seconds, since he had first met her. It was astonishing that he couldn't stop thinking about her, in any aspect.

Dimirti wasn't sure what made him look down at Rose but when he finally tuned back into the real world he noticed that Rose's and his bodies lined up perfectly, and that her eyes were not really dark brown but rather a hazel that changed colour depending on the light.

Then he realized that her eyes were open. He tried to scramble back off the bed but she somehow got her hands around his shoulders and held him down against her with surprising strength. Dimitri opened his mouth to tell her to let go. But Rose was quicker. " Stay. Please. Read me back to sleep. Otherwise I'll have nightmares again."

Dimitri couldn't say no.

***Time Lapse******

The sun hit his eyes bright and early the next morning. Dimitri wasn't sure if the sun was what woke him up though. He tried to move his arm to rub at his eyes to help him wake up but he couldn't move it. Speaking of, he couldn't really take deep breaths either. He looked down and saw a mess of dark brown hair that was turning caramel thanks to the sun.

'_Oh crap...'_

Dimitri's entire thought process grinded to a screeching halt. All of his neurons were consumed by that one thought. He was going to die. That was the next course of action his brain tried to process when Rose started moving. She snuggled closer to him and sighed, what sounded to Dimitri anyway, a content sigh.

Then her body froze. Dimitri imagined that her amazing mind was coming to the same conclusion that his did. He was going to die. Rose's father was going to kill him despite the fact that nothing actually happened last night. However, they were caught in an extremely compromising position, not so much for him but for Rose. During this time and age, her reputation and virtue was all a woman had. And when she came from small towns such as this one, it became even harder to prove either of those.

Rose however wasn't freezing due to terror on either of their parts. No, she was frozen because she realized that it wasn't a dream. Rose backed away slightly but before she knew it Dimitri was halfway across the room and opening the door. "Wait. Are you going to come down to breakfast?" Rose inquired.

Dimitri looked back over his shoulder and sighed. He couldn't deny either of them the other's company. "Yes Rose. I will change and then go down to breakfast." Rose grinned. Dimitri bid a hasty retreat to his bedroom across the hall and Rose hurried to the basin in her room behind the Chinese folding screen. She washed up and stood at her armoire debating what she was going to wear. She couldn't very well dress in one of her old day dresses for Dimitri. At the thought of his name, a feeling that she had only felt once before; the night before; traveled from her chest to her stomach. It felt as though butterflies or pterodactyls, giant winged ancient creatures that had long ago walked (or in the case of the pterodactyls flown) the earth that Rose had learned about in one of her many books, had descended into her stomach and were dancing around. She suddenly remembered talking with Lissa once of how Christian made Lissa feel. Lissa had described it as though butterflies were having a ball in the pit of her stomach. Rose couldn't help but draw parallels to the situation she was in right now. Dimitri made her feel these flutterings in her stomach, made her feel safe when his arms went around her and held her tight as they had this morning.

She finally settled on a beautiful emerald green day dress with an empire waist and lace edging. She loved that dress and hoped that Dimitri did too. She heard the door outside open and hurried to put her slippers on and dashed put of her room. She nearly ran into Dimitri, who was turning around. Dimitri and Rose locked eyes and she felt the flutterings again. However, this time they were worse. No, not worse. Stronger. They were stronger. Dimitri also felt the tingling feeling he had felt last night but he tried to suppress. They finally broke eye contact and started down the stairs.

**I'm sorry for the short chapter. Originally it was going to be really long but that's all in my notebooks which are still back in the previous state. I don't actually have much in the new house. We are eight people living in a two bedroom apartment/ attic in New England... yeah we are kinda uncomfortable right now. The only things that my family has right now is what we bought when we got here, which wasn't much and we left everything else back in the previous state we lived in. We weren't able to rent a moving truck so... I mean, I know how I want this story to go but I might change / add to the chapters I will (hopefully) put up before I get the notebooks back. Just goes to show you that you can't leave your notebooks where you can't get to them.**


End file.
